by Gary Betts

Created on: January 18, 2010   Last Updated: July 18, 2011

The Ipperwash Crisis in Ontario, Canada in 1995 started with the illegal seizure of land by Native Canadians, and ended with the Canadian justice system in disarray. Over the years, much has been written about this crisis, but the truth has been carefully hidden.

I tried to tell the true story to Canadian mainstream media without success. The following is what really happened when the justice system covered up the truth.

This whole mess started in 1941, during World War II, when the Canadian government expropriated lands from the Stoney Point Ojibwa Reserve to establish Camp Ipperwash for military training. Stoney Point families were then moved to the nearby Kettle Point Reserve. Part of the expropriation agreement, however, was that the lands would be returned when it was no longer required for military purposes. 

When the government failed to follow through with the 1941 agreement, members of the Stoney Point First Nation illegally occupied Camp Ipperwash in May 1993. On September 04, 1995, Native Canadians illegally occupied the nearby Ipperwash Provincial Park to bring attention to their land claims. They also said that the Park was an Indian burial ground. This is when the real trouble started.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) sent hundreds of police officers to the area in a bid to end the occupation of the Park. I was one of those officers. Check points were set up in the countryside around the Park. Two police officers were at each check point with an additional two Emergency Response Team (ERT) members hidden nearby.

We were given briefings at the start of each shift. These briefings included intelligence that said Natives were bringing firearms from the United States through nearby Walpole Island. This island is unceded territory occupied by Native Canadians in the St Clair River.

Although the island is officially in Ontario, the State of Michigan is very close. I even heard in these briefings that a rocket-grenade launcher had been smuggled into Ontario.

On the night of September 06, 1995, a group of Native Canadians left the Park. There was word that they were armed. Police officers, including the Tactical and Rescue Unit (TRU), responded. When they tried to arrest a Native, motor vehicles raced out of the Park. Police said they were shooting firearms from these vehicles.

During this tense situation, Sgt Ken Deane saw a Native who he thought was pointing a firearm. This Native was Dudley

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